Vol. 26 Issue 1/2
Ahmed Mohamed Al-Abdulqader, Tajeldin Hossain Nasroun, Shanavaskhan Assnar, and Nasser Salih Al-Khalifah
We report on a study of 35 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clinical isolates collected between February and May 1998 from 4 different hospitals in Northern and Southern Palestine. The isolates were recovered from infection and carriage sites of patients and hospital environmental samples. The arbitrarily primed PCR (AP-PCR) method with two primers appears to be a useful tool, provides a fast and simple method for genetic analysis of MRSA infections and allows us to differentiate 22 different AP-PCR patterns. The major cluster, however, sharing common AP-PCR as well as a common PFGE pattern, represented 34% of all MRSA isolates. Isolates of this cluster were spread throughout the neonatal and intensive care units of Rafidya hospital during the entire period. In addition, these isolates were distributed in the southern part of Palestine as well. Keywords: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, genetic analysis, geographical distribution, Palestine.
Abdullah Saad Al-Wagdany
Narnman Basin is an arid mountainous basin located in the western region of Saudi Arabia and has a drainage area of about 650 km'. Namman unconfined groundwater aquifer is the source of water to the historic underground galleries known as Ain Zubaidah. The galleries became dry due to the fall of groundwater levels dramatically in the last few decades. The galleries can be restored only if a proper water resources management is utilized in the basin. The aim of this research is to investigate two major hydrological components, namely rainfall and runoff, which are essential for a proper management of the water resources of the basin. Rainfall and runoff records for ten rain gauge stations and one runoff gauge station are used to investigate major characteristics of rainfall and runoff in Namman basin. Rainfall records are analyzed to derive conclusion about rainfall occurrence, depth, duration, temporal distribution and extreme values. The relation between rainfall depth and elevation is also investigated. Runoff records are utilized to investigate seasonal variation of runoff. Values of runoff coefficient for all runoff events are computed and the relation between rainfall and runoff for the basin are discussed. The results show that there are more than 30 rainstorms per year and only about two runoff events are usually observed. The temporal analysis of rainfall and runoff indicates that there are two rainy seasons, one is during fall and winter season and the other is during spring seasons while runoff is mainly observed in the winter season. Values of runoff coefficient were very low with mean value of 0.013, which indicate that most rainfall infiltrate through the alluvial channels of the basin.
Hasan Ahmed Juma and Ismail Mohamed Al-Madany
This is the first investigation for the analysis of heavy metal covering the territorial water of Kingdom of Bahrain. For the purpose of establishing baseline, as well as the assessment of marine contamination due to heavy metals, sea waters were collected from 23 different sites known as fishing areas of the territorial water of the Kingdom of Bahrain in the year 2007. The heavy metals analyzed were Arsenic, Cadmium (Cd), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Nickel (Ni), Lead (Pb), Vanadium (V), Zinc (Zn) and Mercury (Hg), using Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES). The concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, V, Zn and Hg were in the range of 0.85-2.75 , 0.06-5.20,4.53-119.00, l.03-28.62, 0.06-l.24, 0.71¬ 20.1, l.13-2.01 , 1.13-9.93,0.96-2.32,4.06-118.00, and 0.13-0.38 }lg/l, respectively, representing the baseline trace metal concentrations of sea water in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The results suggest that the Kingdom of Bahrain's marine waters seem to be of good quality as the concentrations of the metals reported in the studied areas are far below the United Kingdom Water quality standards and United States Environmental Protection Agency recommended water quality criteria, with the exception of copper in all sites, and Mercury (Hg) in Msoor site. In general, concentrations of trace elements in sea water were similar to those of other areas worldwide, and were deemed not to be of any toxicological significance.
Ameen Saleh Ahmed Bin Bisher
Benzodiazepines are tranquilizing psychotropic drugs. Unfortunately, despite their therapeutic benefits, they are illegally consumed in high doses by some addicts to reach a sedative, exhilarative and euphoria state similar to that produced by narcotic substances. The present study, using transmission electron microscope on male guinea pigs, aims to investigate the potential ultrastructural changes in the liver cells induced by the high doses of Benzodiazepines. Animals in three treated groups administrated a daily combined dose consisted of (10 mg Alprazolam with 10mg Diazepam/day/animal) for three different treatment periods: 7, 15, and 25 days. The ultrastructural examination of the hepatocytes of the animals treated for 15 days showed limited changes in the form of marginal heterochromatine accompanied with marginal nucleoli enlargement On the other hand, severe ultrastructural damages are observed in the hepatocytes of the animals treated for 25 days, which appeared in the following various patterns: fatty degeneration of the hepatocytes as indicated by the accumulation of large number of lipid droplets in the cytoplasm, marked nuclear atrophy in some necrotic hepatocytes, massive nuclear degeneration in other hepatocytes, mitochondrial damages in the form of cristea destruction accompanied with abnormal oval shape, massive lysis of the cytoplasmic organelles with severe plasma membrane rupture. In conclusion, the observed ultrastructural damages in the present study may refer to the potential hepatotoxic effects of the high dose of Benzodiazepines. It is recommended that much more official restrictions should be applied on the pharmacies sector to prevent any illegal selling of these drugs in order to prevent abusers from obtaining them, as unfortunately in some developing countries the illegal selling of these drugs is known to occur due to the absence of official control.
Saeed Munassar Alghalibi, Mohammed Goma'a Battah, and Maysoon Abdulrahman Al-Zubairy
This study was designed to study the mycoflora and aflatoxin content of dry raisins in Yemen Republic. Thirty-six raisin samples collected from different shops and markets in Sana'a city were analyzed mycologically for the presence of fungi. A total of forty-eight species belonging to 20 genera were recovered from the analyzed raisins samples on three cultural media. Aspergillus was the most dominant genera on the three types of media, of which A. niger was the most common species. A.flavus was isolated in moderate, low and rare frequency on 1 % and 20% sucrose Czapek's and Sabouraud dextrose agar media. Penicillium was isolated in moderate frequency on 1 and 20% sucrose Czapek's agar media, but in low frequency on Sabouraud dextrose agar medium. The raisin samples were analyzed for the presence of total aflatoxin using ELISA technique. The results revealed that 3 out of 7 samples of raisins analyzed were contaminated with total aflatoxin at levels ranged from 2678.66 to 11556.88 ppt (ng Kg-1).
Hafez Mabrouk , Eman Hilmi , and Mohamed Abdullah
A feeding experiment was conducted to study the effect of different levels of supplemental Prosopis juliflora on growth performance, feed utilization and chemical composition of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fry (1.36 ± 0.04 g). Six isonitrogenous (30.46g 100g-1 crude protein) and isocalorific (0.018 MJ g-1) diets were formulated. Diet 1 (control without supplementing P. juliflora), and diets 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 were supplemented with different levels (20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 g kg-1) of P. juliflora, respectively. The results revealed that harvested gain (g fish-1) was significantly higher (P:5 0.05) for fish fed 60g kg-' P.juliflora, while the lowest value of harvested gain was achieved with fish fed free P. juliflora control diet. Despite that the fish fed diet (4) obtained the highest harvesting weight, weight gain, average daily gain and specific growth rate, no significant differences (P:5 0.05) were observed in average daily gain (g fish-1 day-1) between fish fed diet 3, 4, 5 and 6, and in specific growth rate (% day-1) when inclusion level of P. juliflora was increased from 20 to 40 g kg-1 in diets 2 and 3 and from 80 to 100g kg-1 in diets 5 and 6, respectively. Feed intake was increased significantly (P:5 0.05) with in increasing P. juliflora inclusion level in the experimental diets. No significant differences were observed between the experimental fish groups in FeR in spite of the occurrence of a slight decreasing up to 80g kg-J, and PER. Protein productive value (PPV g 100g-1) and energy utilization (EUg 100g-1) were increased significantly (P:5 0.05) with increasing P.juliflora inclusion level in the experimental diets up to 60g kg-1 and then decreased significantly (P:5 0.05). Fish whole body composition of dry matter and protein were significantly (P:5 0.05) affected by using P. jUliflora in fish diets. Fish fed diet 4 achieved the highest values of dry matter and crude protein. The results suggested that diet supplemented with 60g kg-1 P. juliflora improved growth performances, feed and nutrients utilization, and whole body composition (dry matter, protein and energy content) in Nile tilapia fry.
Abdelbaset Sabry El-Sorogy
The Pleistocene coral reefs of the Red Sea coast form discontinuous strip in three morphological units, with elevations range from 10 to 35 m above the present sea level and with maximum width of about 550 m. The morphological steps of the studied reefal units are caused by on-lap during different sea levels, by tectonics, or by erosion during transgression. Facies patterns within reefs exhibit lateral and vertical changes. The lateral development of each unit begins at the shore, covering the whole lagoonal facies and ends at the upper reef slope. These changes either reflect transitions within the depositional environment or they are related to minor/major sea level fluctuations. The vertical pattern shows a transgressive sequence in the lower (youngest) and the upper (oldest) units and a regressive one in the middle unit. Eighty-eight scleractinian species have been identified. They belong to 3 suborders, 8 families, and 27 genera. The stratigraphic range of the majority of the identified species, which have been previously recorded from the recent sediments of study area is extended here to the Pleistocene age. The paleo-and -biogeographic distribution of the studied species indicated that all belong to Indo-Pacific affinity as well as Atlantic-Mediterranean for very few.
Alyaa Mousa, Amani Al-Zaki, Safa Taha, and Moiz Bakhiet
Interleukin (IL)-10 and IL-13 are cytokines with pleiotropic effects, mainly anti-inflammatory. Little information regarding their role in atherosclerosis is known. Thus, more data are needed to elucidate the link between IL-10 and IL-13 and risk for atherosclerosis. The present work explored the induction of these anti-inflammatory cytokines in atherosclerotic patients at gene and protein levels. In addition, the effects of the chlamydial antigen HSP60 from Chlamydia pneumoniae (c. pneumoniae) and LPS on the induction of IL-10 and IL-13 were examined. Intracellular detection of cytokine mRNA and protein level was assessed by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry respectively. The results of these experiments showed significantly high levels of mRNA expressed and protein produced IL-10 and IL-13 in patients compared to healthy controls. Cells stimulated with CHSP60 did reveal neither high mRNA expression nor protein production of both cytokines when comparing healthy subjects versus patients. However, CHSP60 induced more mRNA and protein levels in both healthy subjects and patients when compared to non stimulated cells. Similar results were also depicted when LPS from C. pneumoniae and E. coli were used. Thus, this study demonstrated the induction of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 and IL13 at both mRNA and protein levels and that bacterial infection does not promote the production of disease beneficial anti-inflammatory cytokines and thus contribute to the disease by providing an opportunity for disease promoting inflammatory responses to take action
Sabah Salih Al-Jenaid and Wisam Mohammed
The aim of this study is to assess the ecological characteristics of El-Daba'a area in Egypt using GIS as a first step for the development of an environmental management plan for the area. The Absence of environmental planning in the process of land use development may cause many significant negative impacts on biodiversity, ecological value, and the general environmental conditions, and therefore, reducing such negative impacts will improve land use development. The first part of this sequel of two papers, which is part of a sustainable land use development research program, aims at designing a spatial framework to improve land use planning and development in an environmental context. The research program deals with the problem of land use planning and development in an arid coastal area under environmentally sensitive conditions. The study area is El-Daba'a region, located in the northwestern coast of Egypt, which can be described as a wild area. The approach used in this paper consists of studying the spatial ecological characteristics of El-Daba'a region using different spatial data including maps and Landsat remote sensing data. These data are used to create a series of superimposed informative layers managed by a geographic information system (GIS) to describe the spatial ecological characteristics of the study area. The developed GIS allows decision makers to handle large amounts of information simultaneously such as geology, geomorphology, land cover, wild life and many other different information layers. The system is designed to help decision makers to organize, relate, analyze, and visualize the ecological data and information in the study area. The developed GIS system might be used to determine the probable effects of building a nuclear power station on the ecosystem.
Waleed Saleh and Anan Jayyousi
With limited resources and rapidly increasing demands, sustainability is becoming an increasingly important issue, yet difficult goal to achieve in wadis (Salih and Ghanem, 2003). Sustainability of wadi systems is more complicated due to the conflicts and interactions among the different resource utilizations. Therefore, sustainability of wadi systems, and rather any natural entity, can only be achieved through an integrated management approach. In this study, an attempt is made to summarize the challenges facing sustainable development of a wadi system (Wadi Jerash) and to propose some solutions towards achieving that goal. The challenges considered in this paper include technical, socio-economic, environmental, institutional, political and legal aspects. Wadi Jerash project area, defined as the surface catchment of the Zerqa River in Jordan, is taken as an example due to its characteristics as a natural environmental set-up that need to be managed in a comprehensive and sustainable manner. The proposed methodologies are based on the outcome of wadi al Far'a and Jerash integrated watershed management project. The overall aim of the project is to create sustainable development conditions for the study area through which water resources, natural resources and human resources are protected and conserved.